


The Road to Recovery

by NilesDaughter



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Couple Banter, Dialogue Heavy, F/M, PostWar, hospital visits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 14:26:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17245832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NilesDaughter/pseuds/NilesDaughter
Summary: Following the destruction of the Reapers, Garrus and Jane take a moment to reflect on what the future might hold for them.





	The Road to Recovery

**Author's Note:**

  * For [barbex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbex/gifts).



As she stared up at the fluorescent lights above her, which flickered ever-so-slightly the longer she watched them, Jane felt her stomach twist into knots. She sighed heavily and tapped her fingers against the mattress beneath her, her attention beginning to zero in on the steady _beeping_ noise of the machine monitoring her heart rate. It was all she had to focus on and it was slowly getting on her nerves. Her stomach twisted again, this time with an additional growl of hunger. Jane huffed a little and struggled to push herself up in a more upright sitting position as she cast a glare around her hospital surroundings.

“What’s a girl gotta do to get some damn French fries around here?” she asked aloud, though the question was not intended to be directed at anyone other than herself.

“Well, I suspect all you have to do is ask.”

A small grin spread across her face as she tilted her head to look towards the door. “Garrus,” she breathed, relaxing at the sight of him. “It’s good to see you again.”

The turian in the doorway nodded a little. “You know I wouldn’t pass up a chance to visit you.” Then he smiled softly and stepped into the room, crossing to her side. He took a moment to pull up a chair to sit in before he passed her a plastic bottle of cola.

She snorted a little. “You know I was joking when I told you bring me this, right?”

“In that case, I’ll just return it,” he quipped, reaching out to take the bottle back.

Jane hugged it closer to her chest, eyes narrowing playfully. “You do that and I’ll bite your fingers off.”

Garrus laughed a bit before adding, “Noted.”

Jane nodded a little and then turned her attention to the bottle, the mirth fading from her entire body. She hesitantly reached up to unscrew the bottle, the simple action making her tense with anticipation as she prayed that she could do this one little thing for herself… Though she felt a small twinge in her shoulder as she twisted the cap, it was nowhere near as painful as some of her previous efforts had been, and soon the soft  _ hiss _ of carbonation escaping the soda bottle reached her ears. A wide smile spread across her face, and while a small part of her brain felt utterly ridiculous that she felt overjoyed by opening a single bottle, the larger part of her brain saw this as a sign that she truly could get better with time.

Garrus let out a shaky breath, almost like he’d been sharing the same exact feeling of trepidation. “How’d that feel?” he asked slowly.

Jane glanced at him and nodded. “It felt great.”

He nodded in return, smiling a little. “Good. That’s good.”

“Though, I don’t think the doctors are going to be too happy about you bringing me junk food,” she added with a snort.

“Well, you may or may not be the reason that there is still an Earth. So, in my opinion, I think they really don’t have room to scold you too much.”

Jane laughed again and finally took a small sip of the cola; after weeks of water and the occasional juice, it tasted far better than she ever remembered.

“So… how’s your PT coming along?” Garrus finally asked after the two had lapsed into silence.

“...As well as it can be, I guess,” Jane said after a long pause. “I can mostly walk by myself now, but the doctors think I’m going to need a cane or braces for the rest of my life. Maybe even both.”

“So, what you’re saying is that we won’t be picking fights on Omega any time soon,” he said, trying to keep his tone light, joking.

“We won’t be picking fights  _ anywhere _ ,” she pointed out, sounding more bitter than she had intended.

Garrus blinked in surprise, seeming taken aback by her response. But then he sighed softly and moved his chair even closer to the bed, reaching out to take hold of her free hand in both of his. “Shepard… Jane… All that matters right now is that you’re  _ alive _ . And I thank the spirits every day for that.”

Jane huffed a little, but focused her gaze on their joined hands, letting the sight of the simple gesture calm her nerves. “I just… I guess I just didn’t want this to put me entirely out of commission. I… I wanted to get better--really better--and then go back to the Alliance or to the Spectres or something.” She sighed again, trying to pause long enough to collect her thoughts. “I didn’t want this to have completely broken me down, you know?”

“Oh, Jane, you know I don’t think that, right?”

“Huh?”

“You’re not broken. Not in the slightest.”

“But--”

“You saved the entire  _ galaxy _ ,” he said. “And even if doing so means you’re forced to retire a lot earlier than you’d planned, I think that’s a damn achievement.” Garrus squeezed her hands in an attempt to comfort her before he continued. “If you think that that makes me love you any less, then you’re sorely mistaken.”

Jane sighed. “But what about you? Are  _ you _ ready to follow me into an early retirement, too?”

Garrus gave her a crooked smile. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

“Well… yeah. Kinda.”

He shook his head. “Well, it may not necessarily be my first choice, but I thought I lost you twice already. There’s no way I’m going to pass up an opportunity to actually just be with you for once in my life.”

“You mean it?”

“With every fiber in my being.”

“...Okay,” she finally said, relaxing a little.

“Besides, I don’t think retirement will be too boring. Not for us, anway.”

She let out a small laugh. “No, I suppose not. Like you said, I did just save the entire galaxy. Even if we’re not fighting all the time, we’re probably going to be spending a lot of time dodging the media.”

“You know, Omega sounds safer in comparison.”

Jane laughed again, a full-on one that racked through her entire body until she had to stop short as she realized the motion was jostling her ribs a little too much.

Garrus grimaced slightly and partially stood up, leaning over to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Sorry about that…”

She shook her head. “No, it’s fine. It’s… nice to be able to laugh again, you know?”

“It’s good to see you laughing again,” he admitted softly.

“Yeah…” She fell silent for a moment and then looked up at Garrus, her expression curious and maybe even a little anxious. “Everything’s going to work out, yeah?”

“Yes, I think it will. Maybe not quite the way we were hoping for, but it will.”

“If nothing else, I’ll have you with me to figure it out.”

“Always,” he confirmed. “After all, I told you before that there was no Shepard without Vakarian.”

She smiled and craned her neck up to plant a soft kiss on his scarred mandible. “No. No, there isn’t.”


End file.
